"You done touching me?"
Before Anko could figure it out, Naruto suddenly spoke, snapping her back to reality.
She looked at how close their faces were, and her cheeks turned a little red.
She was trying to scare him a bit—so why did it now feel like she was teasing him?
Realizing that, Anko quickly stepped back—but accidentally stepped on the foot of a Grass Village ninja behind her.
Just as she was about to apologize, she felt a sudden killing intent coming from him!
Her instincts kicked in—she quickly slipped a sharp kunai from her sleeve and got ready to fight.
But right before she attacked, that Grass ninja pulled back his killing intent.
At the same time, a long tongue wrapped around a kunai stretched out in front of her.
"Here's your kunai~"
Anko narrowed her eyes slightly, watching the kunai being handed over by that long tongue, and smiled cautiously.
"Thanks... but next time, don't stand behind me with that kind of killing intent—unless you want to die."
With that, she took the kunai back, and the Grass ninja retracted his tongue.
"Sorry. You cut off my most important hair just now... and stepped on me too. I kinda lost it for a second."
"Well, I guess that was my bad."
The two of them stared at each other for a moment, then the Grass ninja smiled and walked off.
As Anko watched his back, for a brief second he seemed a little familiar to her—but she quickly brushed it off.
He was probably just a strong and energetic kid.
"Looks like this year's test has drawn in quite a few hot-headed ones. Should be interesting," Anko said with a grin.
"Yeah, definitely some hot-headed types," Naruto replied calmly.
Anko: "..."
She turned to Naruto with a faint smile. "You're pretty interesting. We'll talk more another time. But first, we need to get the important stuff done."
She pulled out a stack of consent forms.
"Alright, everyone planning to take the exam—come sign one of these forms!"
"Consent form?"
"It's basically a death waiver. Since people might actually die during the test, if you don't sign it, I'll be held responsible if you drop dead in there, hahaha!"
"..."
Is that supposed to be a joke?
It didn't sound funny at all!
"Hey, Naruto~"
"Hmm?"
"Mind helping me pass these forms out? I don't have much time left, and I still need to explain the rules of the exam to you all."
"If you say thanks, I'll help you, Big Red Bean."
"..."
"Arigato~, Naruto~"
Naruto gave a faint smile, took the consent form, and tossed it to Sasuke and Sakura. "Hand it out."
Anko Mitarashi: "..."
"Ahem!"
"The second exam is basically a survival test!"
As she spoke, Anko unrolled a scroll to reveal a map. "First, let me explain the layout using this map of the test area!"
"This is Training Ground 44. It's a circular area surrounded by 44 locked gates. There are rivers, forests, and a tower in the middle!"
"The tower is about 10 kilometers from the gates. You'll need to survive within this limited area!"
"And the test is simple—there are no real rules. It's a scroll battle!"
"Scrolls?"
"Yeah, there are two types: the Heaven Scroll and the Earth Scroll. There are 19 teams taking this exam, and each team will be randomly given one of the two scrolls."
"About half of you will get the Heaven Scroll, and the other half will get the Earth Scroll. Your mission is to collect both types of scrolls and have all three team members reach the tower in the center—within 120 hours!"
"120 hours? That's five days! What about food?" Chouji looked desperate.
"You have to find your own. The wilderness is full of resources," Anko said calmly.
Kabuto smiled and added, "It's not just full of resources—it's full of danger too. Poison bugs, toxic plants, even man-eating beasts."
"That's way too dangerous!" Chouji groaned.
"That's why it's called a survival test, idiot!" Ino snapped.
"Uh… can we quit halfway?" Shikamaru raised his hand.
"Of course not! No one taking this exam is allowed to quit halfway. Just stay in there for the full five days," Anko said with a faint smile.
"No way…"
A lot of people who were planning to back out if things got rough looked very upset.
If quitting halfway isn't allowed, doesn't that mean there's no real safety for their lives?
"Now let me explain the elimination rules."
"First, if your team doesn't get both scrolls in time or doesn't reach the tower together—eliminated!"
"Second, if you lose a team member or one can't move—eliminated!"
"And third… no one is allowed to look inside the scrolls before reaching the tower!"
"What happens if someone peeks?" someone asked.
"Well… you can try and imagine the result yourself."
Anko smiled slightly and warned, "In the future, you might handle confidential documents. This is to test if you can be trusted. So don't go peeking~"
"Alright, the teams that signed the consent form can take all three copies to that spot over there and exchange them for a scroll. Then pick a gate and get ready to go in!"
Following Anko's gesture, they saw three Chunin sitting under a long pavilion.
"Let's go." Naruto, holding the signed forms, said to Sasuke and Sakura.
Other teams might still be thinking about whether to sign and take the test, but Naruto had no need to hesitate.
Same with Sasuke—there was no sign of fear in him either.
They'd already come this far—no way they'd quit just because of the risk of dying.
Sakura, on the other hand, was a little scared and unsure.
But seeing how dependable Naruto and Sasuke were, she made up her mind too.
Even if I'm weak, my teammates are strong!
The strongest carry squad, you know?
Walking past all the other teams under their surprised stares, the three of them stepped into the pavilion.
"Are Konoha teams always this bold?"
"I think they're the rookies who just graduated this year, right?"
"Hmph, they don't know what they're doing."
…
Some were impressed, some looked down on them, and some didn't care at all.
The other examinees all had different opinions about Naruto's team.
But the proctors only had one impression:
"That little Naruto looks pretty good. So full of energy!"
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